Eight arrested in Ho Chi Minh City police station bombing

Eight people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in an explosion which police consider a terrorist act at a police station in Ho Chi Minh City last month.

The explosion occurs at the Ward 12 Police Station in Tan Binh District, HCM City on June 20.

Ho Chi Minh City Police on Thursday announced at a press conference that they have detained and initiated criminal proceedings against eight people belonging to a terrorist ring which caused the explosion at the police station of Ward 12 in Tan Binh District on June 20.

Deputy director of HCM City's Public Security Department, Maj. Gen. Phan Anh Minh, said on July 5 that initial investigation showed that the explosion might have been remotely controlled by a terrorist ring.

"We collected some 200 grams of TNT explosive at the site," Minh said.

CCTV footage showed that two men travelling on a motorcycle had thrown an object toward the police station prior to the blast, which injured a female officer standing nearby and damaged the facility and some motorbikes parked here.

The first suspect, Nguyen Tan Thanh, was arrested on June 24 while hiding in the neighbouring province of Dong Nai and admitted to being part of the attack.

Following Thanh's statements, police arrested his father, Nguyen Khanh, on June 25 who helped Thanh make the explosives.

Three other suspects were captured the following days for selling explosive materials to the father and son.

On June 27, Duong Ba Giang, who took part in the production of the bombs, was detained while hiding in Tay Ninh Province.

From left to right: Nguyen Tan Thanh, Nguyen Khanh, Vu Hoang Nam and Duong Ba Giang.

The last suspect, Nguyen Hoang Nam, was nabbed on June 28. He and Thanh were the ones throwing the explosive devices at the police station.

According to Maj. Gen. Minh, two of the suspects, Nguyen Khanh and his son Nguyen Tan Thanh are members of a reactionary organisation Trieu Dai Viet Nguyen, whose leaders live abroad.

Khanh was directed by head of the Trieu Dai Viet Nguyen Organisation, Ngo Hung, who sent him VND120 million to produce and carry out the explosions.

Police have seized 38 detonators, eight hand-made bombs and 10 kilogrammes of explosives at Khanh's place in Dong Nai Province, which were allegedly planned for attacks at several other police stations and officials' houses.

"The consequences could have been huge," HCMC's Party leader Nguyen Thien Nhan said at a press briefing on Thursday afternoon.

The police department has initiated legal proceedings against seven out of eight suspects, Maj. Gen. Minh said.

Four of them were charged with committing terrorist acts, with the three others accused of trading explosives, the police official elaborated.